Poor veterinary care

These dogs ran almost 1,000 miles to Nome. They weren’t even given shelters to protect them from the frigid cold, snow or wind. Photo attributed to jkbrooks85 on flickr.

No mandatory veterinary exams for dogs

No mandatory veterinary checkups for dogs at checkpoints:

“A race fan just asked me:. ‘How come some teams are checked out by the veterinarians and others are not ?’ As a musher you have 3 options to pick: A complete exam, for that you usually have to stay in the checkpoint, as it can take close to half an hour, depending how many vets are working on the team. With teams filing in here as fast as they do right now, the vet teams have to work fast. The second choice is a ” brief exam ” looking over some of the basic vital signs and just picking some dogs. The third option is to have no exam.”

– Sebastian Schnuelle, article on Iditarod’s website, dated March 9, 2015 4:22 pm, Nenana checkpoint
– Sebastian Schnuelle’s articles are published on the Iditarod’s home page. Schnuelle raced dogs in the Iditarod and in the Yukon Quest.

“In the race, [Lucy] Smith said her responsibilities included checking and noting the time teams arrived, how many dogs were in the team and whether any of the dogs needed to see a veterinarian.”

– This was Lucy Smith’s third consecutive year at the Kaltag and Rohn checkpoints at the race.
– Livi Stanford, The Village Daily Sun, March 25, 2012

“At each checkpoint, veterinarians are on stand-by to check on the dogs.”

– Brian Gehring, Bismarck Tribune, March 26, 2012

Veterinarians Okay with Mushers Doping Dogs

“I personally know there was a good bit of doping going on in the Iditarod of the ’80s because the late chief Iditarod veterinarian Del Carter and I talked about it somewhat regularly through the mid-80s.”

Veterinarian tells mushers how to avoid detection of prohibited medications:

“All prohibited drugs must be out of the dogs system at the time of the pre-Race veterinary check. Most anti-inflammatories such as pherrylbutazone and aspirin, which may be used on an injured dog during training are out of the system by 72 hours after they are given. To give a wide safety margin, I recommend that you discontinue all prohibited medications 2 weeks before the start of the Race unless they have been authorized by the head veterinarian.”

Vet checkups not available

The Iditarod cut the number of checkpoints by about 60 percent in the first 500 miles of the 2015 race. Veterinarians are at the checkpoints. Fewer checkpoints means fewer vet checks for the dogs. Much longer distances have to be run before sick and injured dogs can get the help they need.

Checkpoints cut by about 60 percent in first 500 miles:

“Brent Sass said, ‘There’s only five checkpoints in the first 500 miles, but there’s usually 12 in the first 500 miles.’”

– Emily Schwing, APRN, Alaska Public Media, March 10, 2015

LEGALLY HIGH: Veterinarians allowed to take drugs

Veterinarians NOT banned from taking drugs. Iditarod does NOT give vets drug tests.

Marijuana wax. The Iditarod doesn’t test veterinarians for drugs. Veterinarians can be legally high on marijuana concentrates like wax. Concentrates can have THC levels as high as 85 percent. THC is the mind-altering ingredient found in marijuana.

“Anyone 21 years or older can buy and carry up to an ounce of marijuana. You can give and receive up to an ounce for free.”

“Marijuana stores have opened in many Alaska communities, from Fairbanks to Sitka. Bring your ID, because Alaska law requires businesses to check it. Each shop is a little different, but marijuana will be behind the counter and a budtender will help you pick out what you want. You can smell and look at the product but not touch it.”

“Marijuana” means all parts of the plant of the genus cannabis whether growing or not, the seeds thereof, the resin extracted from any part of the plant, and every compound, manufacture, salt , derivative, mixture, or preparation of the plant, its seeds, or its resin, including marijuana concentrate.”

– Chapter 38. The regulation of marijuana, State of Alaska Division of Elections, website, 2014

Marijuana concentrates can have THC levels as high as 85 percent:

[THC is the mind-altering ingredient found in marijuana.]

“Concentrates mean that marijuana that can have levels of THC as low as 23 percent is boosted to as much as 85 percent THC when it’s transformed into wax, honey oil and shatter, the DEA says.”

– Dennis Romero, LA Weekly, September 19, 2014

Many types of edible marijuana:

Gummy bears. Some gummy bears have marijuana in them. Photo attributed to JanmiS on flickr.

“Not surprisingly, cannabis impairs cognitive and psychomotor performance. The effects are similar to those of alcohol and benzodiazepines and include slowing of reaction time, motor incoordination, specific defects in short-term memory, difficulty in concentration and particular impairment in complex tasks which require divided attention. The effects are dose-related but can be demonstrated after relatively small doses (5-10 mg THC in a joint), even in experienced cannabis users, and have been shown in many studies across a wide range of neurocognitive and psychomotor tests. These effects are additive with those of other central nervous system depressants.”

“Accompanying the high, and often contributing to it, cannabis produces perceptual changes. Colours may seem brighter, music more vivid, emotions more poignant and meaningful. Spatial perception is distorted and time perception is impaired so that perceived time goes faster than clock time. Hallucinations may occur with high doses.”

“Three-time and defending Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race champion Mitch Seavey of Sterling appears to have used a prohibited substance on his dogs for years if his 2014 testimonial for a supplement maker and his Facebook posts are to be believed.

‘For nearly two decades, I’ve used Young Living Wintergreen Oil for after-workout massages on my elite canine athletes,’ he posted on his Facebook page on Feb. 13, 2015. ‘In fact, we used so much Wintergreen we once tried a knock-off product from an online source – until the dogs began losing hair and suffering skin irritations.’

“We use Dynamite products year round in the kennel to maintain healthy, thriving dogs. The nutritional vitamin and mineral supplements are a key element in our their successful performance and great overall health. The wound care items are fantastic. We use the Trace Minerals Concentrate to control bleeding. It works as a topical blood stopper, or can help the body with internal bleeding by giving orally. It’s a must have anytime we are expecting a litter of pups. We add it to mom’s food after labor to help prevent excess bleeding, and use when dew-clawing puppies, instead of blood stop.

We’ve had great success treating viral and bacterial illnesses in adults and puppies with what is now referred to in our kennel as the Dynamite Regimen. This involves dosing with activated Miracle Clay, Solace, Dyna Pro, and Trace Minerals Concentrate every 3 hours around the clock until well. We usually see marked and rapid improvement within a few hours of starting the regimen.”

“Returning to his sled, Seavey sifted through the gear stored in front—camping stove, sleeping bag, axe—until he had located a bottle of powder containing what he referred to as his ‘secret weapon,’ a homeopathic remedy called arnica, which he uses for treating canine joint and muscle aches. He began addressing his dogs individually, first flexing their paws, then extending their elbows and stretching their shoulders, and, finally, massaging their jaws open, so that he could deploy his weapon by the capful. ‘How you doing, Casper? You getting tired? . . . K., Schooner, open up. . . . Hey, Lincoln, you’re being all coöperative today, aren’t you?’”

– Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, April 22, 2013

— Michelle Phillips rolls homemade Arnica on her sled dogs:

“[Michelle] Phillips pulls a little blue vial out of her pocket. It’s medicine for both her and her dogs. ‘It’s a homeopathic remedy, Arnica. I’ve gone through half a bottle and anyone that’s stiff or sore is taking it as well.’ She is known for the homemade remedies she uses to treat stiff and sore dogs. ‘It’s a whole blend that I roll on….’”

– Emily Schwing, Alaska Public Radio Network, March 6, 2014

DANGERS of Arnica:

“Arnica is quite toxic if ingested in its normal state.”

– Eldredge, Debra, DVM. Pills for Pets: The A to Z Guide to Drugs and Medications for Your Animal, New York: Citadel Press, 2003

“Pure arnica is considered an unsafe herb by the FDA.”

– MedicineNet.com, 2015

“A preparation like this may be useful in horses, but dogs would have to be prevented from licking the [Arnica montana fresh plant gel] because of its oral toxicity.”

“Arnica montana, native to central Europe and Scandinavia, is a popular homeopathic remedy that has shown good effect in acute inflammation (Macedo et al. 2004). The sesquiterpene lactones were found to inhibit NFkB (Klaas et al., 2002). Arnica preparations, however should not be used on broken skin as it contains formic acid and arnicine, which may cause cardiac damage and hepatoenteric inflammation (Harman, 2002).”

“CAFFEINE. Many products use caffeine to give users the energy to work out, but it is not as well tolerated by animals as it is by people. Consider that an average cup of coffee has 50-100mg of caffeine. Fitness supplements can have quite a bit more than that. For example, C4 Extreme and Hydroxy Hardcore Elite contain 135mg and 270mg per serving respectively, and have dozens of servings per container. Exposure to those kinds of amounts can lead to hyperactivity, elevated heart rate, seizures, and even death.

XYLITOL. Xylitol is a sweetener that is added to some fitness supplements to make them taste better without adding a bunch of extra sugar and calories. This is great for humans, but can be very dangerous for pets. In fact, as little as 0.5mg/kg of xylitol consumed by a pet can lead to liver failure.

IRON. Iron is essential in combating fatigue, and is particularly popular in fitness supplements for women. An overdose of iron in pets can lead to multiple organ system effects, including internal bleeding and shock.

5-HYDROXYTRYPTOPHAN (5HTP). This is another ingredient marketed in weight-loss and bodybuilding supplements, and is supplied in 50-500mg capsules. Animals do not process this as well as people. As little as 23.6mg/kg in pets can be toxic, and 128mg/kg can be fatal.

EPHEDRA. Known as Ma Huang in Chinese medicine, ephedra is an ingredient thought to enhance athletic performance and aid in short-term weight loss. It is also often combined with guarana, which contains caffeine. As of 2004, the sale of supplements containing ephedra has been banned in the United States, due to concerns with safety. However, it is still sometimes used by athletes and in Chinese medicine. The safety margin with this substance in pets is very narrow, with death occurring at doses as low as 5.8mg/kg. Some supplements still available for purchase on the internet contain 25, 50, or even 100mg ephedra per capsule.”

“… other lesser but still real concerns, like potassium, sodium, calcium, and vitamin D.”

— US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has little control over supplements:

“First, it is important to understand that dietary supplements (whether for humans or pets) are regulated very differently than drugs. Unlike drugs, dietary supplements do not require the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to review product effectiveness, safety, or quality prior to marketing. The result is that the FDA has little control over supplements. In fact, while drug manufacturers must prove the drug to be safe and effective before it is sold, the FDA must prove that a supplement is unsafe. It is easy to imagine that with the thousands of supplements on the market today, this is an unrealistic task for the FDA. Therefore, the safety, quality control, and effectiveness of dietary supplements can be very questionable.”

“Even if the supplement by itself is safe, its use in combination with medications an animal may be taking can cause dangerous interactions. In addition, numerous studies have shown that many supplements have terrible quality control. This means that if you buy a supplement that is supposed to contain 500 mg per tablet, it may contain 500 mg but it also may contain 1000 mg or nothing at all! Some supplements may be contaminated with mercury, lead, or other substances. ”

The Devil is in the Details

FANTASY: Dog Team Diaries (Vet Books) are supposed to contain medical records for each dog. Veterinarians are to read these records and write comments about the dogs at every checkpoint.

“Dog Team Diaries, also referred to as ‘Vet Books,’ are carried by each musher. Mushers present them to a veterinarian at each checkpoint, with the purpose of serving as a written medical record for every dog in the race.” ” After a basic checkup, the Vet writes comments in the notebook for the musher to carry on down the trail.”

– Iditarod website

REALITY: Any race official can sign vet books and dogs don’t always get checkups.

“I hold out my vet book. ‘Just sign it’, I say. ‘I can’t stay here any longer.’ They tell me they can’t do that, and I explain to them that a race official may sign the vet book if a vet is not present for a team that is checking through. ‘But we’re not actually race officials’, they protest. ‘Sign it,’ I say. ‘I’ll take the heat for it not being official.’ And if anyone wants to give me a hard time, we are going to have a long discussion about how I held my team and waited, and no one showed up. Finally they agree to sign my vet book, and I am in motion almost before they hand it back to me.”

– Karin Hendrickson at the McGrath checkpoint, blog, 2013

No documentation dogs are vaccinated

“[Aliy] Zirkle noted that there was concern about how Iditarod will verify documentation for vaccinations. Dr. [Stuart] Nelson noted that this has been on the honor system. There isn’t any other way to do it.”

“Kennel cough is a fairly common and highly contagious respiratory disease in dogs.”

– Janet Tobiassen Crosby, veterinarian, about.com, March 17, 2011

“Technically known as “tracheobronchitis”, Kennel Cough or Bordetella, is an upper respiratory infection with the major sign being a persistant, dry, hacking cough. It often lasts several weeks and is HIGHLY CONTAGIOUS.”

“She [Heather Siirtola] said kennel cough spread through a lot of the teams causing mushers, including four-time defending champion Lance Mackey, to drop dogs along the way.”

– Brian Gehring, Bismarck Tribune, March 29, 2011

– Kennel cough typically lasts between 10 and 21 days:

“The kennel cough will typically last between 10 and 20 days. If the dog is under stress or he is affected by a different disease that will challenge his immune system, the kennel cough symptoms may reoccur. The disease will be contagious several weeks after the dog shows no other symptoms of kennel cough.”

– vetinfo.com, March 19, 2011

“Symptoms may last as long as 20 days.”

– Dr. Janet Tobiassen Crosby, DVM, About.com, March 19, 2011

“A young, otherwise healthy dog should not be ill with the disease, and the cough should get better within 2-3 weeks. Very young or old dogs with other diseases may be much more severely affected by kennel cough.”

“Treatment consists mainly of rest, especially in working dogs, sheepdogs, hunting dogs and shooting dogs, because permanent lung damage can result if the dog is made to take exhaustive exercise before it has fully recovered.”

– Dr. Jill Bowen, veterinarian, The Roanoke Times, April 11, 2010

Kennel cough may progress to fatal pneumonia in puppies and to chronic bronchitis in adult or old dogs:

“Infectious tracheobronchitis [kennel cough] results from inflammation of the upper airways. It is a mild, self-limiting disease but may progress to fatal bronchopneumonia in puppies or to chronic bronchitis in debilitated adult or aged dogs.”

– The Merck Veterinary Manual, March 18, 2011

“Strenuous exercise should be avoided, as this will cause additional breathing problems.”

– Vetinfo.com, March, 2011

“Dogs of all ages are susceptible, and while the disease in itself is mild, in puppies and old dogs it can lead to complications such as pneumonia.”

– Dr. Jill Bowen, veterinarian, The Roanoke Times, April 11, 2010

“It is worthwhile to note that kennel cough may have potentially serious respiratory complications for very young and very old dogs.”

“…There are a variety of diseases that can produce conjunctivitis: – Upper respiratory diseases, as with kennel cough. These infections involve both bacteria and viruses. Signs of conjunctivitis are often present in both eyes….”

– Edited by Dr. Rhea Morgan, Petplace.com

— Symptoms of conjunctivitis in dogs:

“Redness of the eyesEye dischargeSwelling of the conjunctivaSquinting or excessive blinkingOccasional pawing or rubbing at the eyes”

– Edited by Dr. Rhea Morgan, Petplace.com

Dogs with kennel cough should be kept warm:

“To help prevent the development of pneumonia, dogs with kennel cough should be rested and kept in a relatively warm environment.”

– City of Springdale Animal Services, website article, March 2011

“Dogs should be kept in a dry, warm, draft-free environment. Exercise should be avoided until the condition subsides.”

– Glendale Animal Hospital, Glendale, AZ, website article, March 2011

“The BEST thing to do for a dog with kennel cough is provide them with a warm, stress-free home. In this environment most dogs will recover within a few weeks.”

When kennel cough symptoms are resolved, intense exercise is still dangerous:

“Kennel cough is a potentially serious respiratory disease that is easily transmitted in an environment in which dogs are closely confined, like racing kennels. Even after the symptoms appear to be resolved, there is latent residual pathology that makes it dangerous for dogs to exercise with any intensity without risking permanent pulmonary damage.”

Infectious canine tracheobronchitis is highly contagious and most commonly occurs where groups of dogs of different ages and susceptibility are congregated. Aerosol or direct contact is considered the main source of exposure. Clinical signs usually develop 3 to 5 days after initial exposure.”

Sebastian Schnuelle:“Oh yah, for sure I had that stupid kennel cough like big time. It started like two days before the race.”

Kyle Hopkins:“Do you think they got it on the Quest?”

Sebastian Schnuelle:“Oh yeah for sure, Ken [Anderson] had it, Hans [Gatt] had it. So I guess we three kind of stuck together there. So I guess we all got it.”

– iditablog, Anchorage Daily News, March 9, 2011, Takotna checkpoint
– Kyle Hopkins is a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News.
– The 2011 Iditarod started on March 5.

“As the race got underway, [Hans] Gatt said about half of his team was battling kennel cough.”

– Jill Burke, Alaska Dispatch, March 9, 2011

“Disappointment in the Iditarod. After contacting Kennel Cough before the race I had hopes the team would recover in time. Unfortunately only some of them did. By McGrath I was down to 9 dogs from the 16 that started, due to a combination of illness & injury. The remaining dogs were still showing strong symptoms of the cough, and with only one leader remaining I decided it was in the best interest of the dogs to end the race at this point.”

“The run from TAKOTNA to OPHIR is short, but hilly. I gauge my team by the time interval we take to cover this distance. A good time is 2 and a half hours. I always think back to my first Iditarod. My entire dog team had kennel cough and were moving slowly right here.”

“Kate was also coming down with kennel cough which was going around the other teams too. My team had managed to not get it before the race but once we got around the other dog teams it was hard not to get.”

– Jessie Royer, Jessie’s Sled Dog Page, Iditarod 2004
– Royer and her team were near the Finger Lake checkpoint which is 194 miles from Anchorage.

“In the radio shack I heard Del Carter, the veterinarian, saying there was a kennel cough epidemic at Ophir.” Sixteen dogs were ill, and he wanted medicine. Sure enough, several dogs in the surrounding teams were coughing and hacking.”

Veterinarians give dogs massive doses of antibiotics to keep them racing in the Iditarod.

Veterinarians allow other sick and injured dogs to race in Iditarod

Lance Mackey’s dog in awful pain from ripping out his own toenails is allowed to race:

Annie Feidt: “He’s [Lance Mackey] further back in the race than he was at his point last year when he finished 16th and he’s leaving with nine dogs, one of whom has a minor injury. But he’s too stubborn to drop the dog.”

Lance Mackey: “Because it was kind of a self-inflicted wound keeping this female in heat and it’s caused other issues that are fixable. This particular little issue is he’s been working hard to get to that female in front of him. He ripped off his toenails. He’s still able to walk with no toenails. It’s just kind of painful.”

– Annie Feidt from Alaska Public Radio interviewed Lance Mackey on March 12, 2012, APRN.org website

–Ripped off toenails are extremely painful:

“The worst type of broken toe nail is called an avulsed toe nail. This is when the nail is actually pulled off. This type is also extremely painful and tends to bleed a lot.”

“They discover that Lyra has developed mastitis (infection) in her back teats.” “The vet spends a good twenty minutes extracting smelly, cloudy fluid out onto the snow.”

“In order to control the infection, the vets tell me I will have to give her antibiotics twice a day and strip all fluids out of the teats four times a day. That just makes me laugh. We spend most of our time running down the trail, which makes it sort of impossible to stop and spend a long time milking a dog multiple times each day.”

– Karin Hendrickson, blog, 2012

— Dogs with mastitis should not run in endurance races:

“Mastitis can be extremely painful. Even if it is chronic and not causing clinically detectable pain, it still is a compromising condition that can get worse and result in major illness – and even death – if not treated. Individuals with mastitis should not be stressed; certainly, they should not be subjected to the rigors of pulling a sled for something like the Iditarod race. The fact that the musher in question chose to subject her dog to this is damning testimony about the striking lack of true concern for the dogs used.”

Nedim C. Buyukmihci, V.M.D.
Emeritus Professor of Veterinary Medicine, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California-Davis

— Mastitis in dogs is a potentially life-threatening infection:

“Mastitis is a bacterial infection of one or more lactating (milk producing) glands in the breasts. It is often the result of an ascending infection, trauma to the lactating gland, or an infection that has been spread through the blood stream.

Escherichia coli (E. coli), Staphylococci, and β-hemolytic Streptococci are some of the main bacteria that are found to be most commonly involved. It is a potentially life-threatening infection, in some cases leading to septic shock, the direct effect of the mammary glands with systemic involvement.”

“He [Nathan Schroeder] finished in 45th place in a time of 10 days, 22 hours, 39 minutes and 25 seconds.”

“[Nathan] Schroeder’s father, Vern, reported from Nome that the musher faced a ‘double whammy’ in Safety.

‘Not only have the dogs been sick [with diarrhea], but Nathan is extremely ill also,’ he wrote Wednesday night on Nathan Schroeder’s Facebook page.’“He has been coughing up blood and showing signs of being a little incoherent….”

– Duluth News Tribune, March 17, 2016

“He [Nathan Schroeder] noted that he was nervous about racing after the team caught a stomach bug, but he slowed down and still was able to complete the race in 10 days.”

“At 11:21 P.M. on the third day of this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, Dallas Seavey, the reigning champion, rode into the village of Takotna, Alaska, standing behind the handlebars of a sled pulled by fourteen huskies, in rows of two.”

“A veterinarian arrived with a stethoscope and a clipboard, and began conducting her own examinations alongside [Dallas] Seavey. The vet, spying a broken nail on Casper, an all-white fifty-six-pounder named for the friendly ghost, prescribed amoxicillin.”

– Ben McGrath, The New Yorker, April 22, 2013

[Dallas Seavey was allowed to continue racing Casper, a dog whose nail had broken. According to the Iditarod’s website, Seavey arrived in Takotna with 14 dogs and left with 14 dogs.]

— Broken nails are quite painful:

“Toenail problems, specifically torn or broken nails, are common in dogs but rarely life-threatening. Nevertheless, they are quite painful.”

– Written by: PetPlace.com Veterinarians, 2015

“If a nail is cracked or partially broken off, there is pain and lameness.”

Jessie Royer’s dogs, in great pain from cracked webbing, are allowed to race:

“Jessie Royer, who trains in Montana where it’s often warm, said she was worried about the condition of her dogs’ feet. Wet all the time, the webbing was cracking. She described it ‘like having you hands in dish soap all the time. My dogs are used to the (warm) weather, but this is even too much for them,’ she said.”

– Suzanna Caldwell, Alaska Dispatch, March 8, 2013

– Dogs have substantial pain when the webbing on their paws is cracked:

“Cracked webbing of the feet, especially in warm weather, would make the dogs vulnerable to bacterial or fungal infection of the damaged areas. The other issue is pain, which would be substantial with this type of damage regardless whether there is infection. Although booties might reduce the incidence of damage, once the foot is damaged, they would not help much with the pain even if they reduced the potential for infection.”

Veterinarians allowed Scott Smith to race his entire team of sick dogs:

“Just a few spots away in the dog lot [in Kaltag checkoint] is Scott Smith, who finished 10th last year. His team’s been fighting a bug.”

– Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media – March 13, 2017

Veterinarians allow Lance Mackey to race his entire team of sick dogs:

“Four-time champion Lance Mackey left the Ophir checkpoint at just before 5 a.m. Friday morning after electing to take his mandatory 24-hour rest in the checkpoint. Despite his dogs’ illnesses, official standings show he left with a full team of 16 dogs in harness.”

– Tegan Hanlon, Alaska Dispatch News, March 10, 2016

Veterinarians allow Laura Neese to race her entire team of sick dogs:

“[Laura] Neese was one of many mushers whose team experienced illness on the trail that forced her to slow down, but Neese made the best of the situation.”

– Mark Cowman, TV6 Upper Michigan, website, April 13, 2017

Veterinarians allow Martin Buser’s dogs to race with infected paws:

“Asked by a KNOM reporter in Nome if he ‘messed up’ by starting so fast over the first four days, [Martin] Buser said no. The problem, he said, was that he ran in the heat of the day and ran without booties, which allowed his dogs’ feet to get infected, leaving the musher to nurse sore paws the rest of the way.”

– The KNOM interview with Martin Buser was on March 18, 2011.
– Alaska Dispatch, March 4, 2013

All of Martin Buser’s dogs had diarrhea and veterinarians allowed them to race:

Martin Buser: “I had 14 squirting leaving Iditarod….”

Lance Mackey: “I did hear that.”

Martin Buser: “Mine were just leaving Iditarod. But I could see, so I put them on bread and water.”

– Anchorage Daily News, video, partial transcript, March 8, 2013

[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: According to the Iditarod’s website, Martin Buser left the Iditarod checkpoint with 14 dogs.]

“‘We were running through the [Farewell] Burn and we actually saw the bison. There’s no snow, so there’s no way to stop. My 15 dog team was just flying after it and I was trying to slow them down, and I’m assuming it happened then. But one of my dogs left, he got a stick to his privates, poor guy. But it was just a flesh wound, so they were able to suture it up at Nikolai, and he’s good to go,’ said [Ryne] Olson.”

– Zachariah Hughes, Alaska Public Media, March 10, 2016

Veterinarian allows dog with injured pectoral muscle to race:

“We’ve been under way a few hours when Sydney develops a hitch in her gait.”

“When we pull into Nulato, I’m eager to ask the vet to diagnose Sydney’s problem.” “Caroline confirms my suspicion that it’s her pectoral muscle. The soreness is mild but unlikely to improve with message.”

“‘It might not be worth it to push a young dog,’ she says.” “Caroline continues, ‘Feed them dinner and think about it. Come find me if you want to drop her.'”

“This year a virus hit two of his [Dallas Seavey’s] dogs hard, and he said it was apparent on the first day of the race he’d have to drop them.”

– Mark Thiesse, Associated Press, March 15, 2016

[March 6 was the first day of the 2016 Iditarod. According to the race, Dallas Seavey only dropped dogs two days later, on March 8, 2016.]

Scott Janssen’s dog collapsed 27 miles out of Rainy Pass checkpoint:

According to the Iditarod’s website, Scott Janssen was at the Rainy Pass checkpoint for 6 hours and 14 minutes.Veterinarians were at Rainy Pass.The checkpoint is 112 miles from Willow where the Iditarod officially started.

“Iditarod sophomore Scott Janssen was making his way down a steep section of the Dalzell Gorge when the dog collapsed. One moment, 9-year-old Marshal was pulling hard at the sled, the tug line taut as a guitar string. The next, the husky was on the ground.’Boom! Laid right down. It was like a guy my age having a heart attack,’ said Janssen, who owns an Anchorage funeral home and calls himself ‘The Mushing Mortician.'”

– Kyle Hopkins, Iditarodblog, Anchorage Daily News, March 7, 2012

“As Janssen told KNOM trail reporter Laureli Kinneen in Takotna, he had a frighteningly close call with one of his sled dogs, Marshall, during the run from Rainy Pass to Rohn. While mushing through the Dalzell Gorge, Marshall suddenly collapsed.”

– KNOM on the Trail, KNOM.org, website article, March, 2012

Veterinarian allows dog with swollen leg to race:

“Muddy wasn’t showing any signs of a problem, but her front leg was really puffy. I had noticed it when I took her bootie off when we first arrived in Galena and did some massage and wrapping. It wasn’t getting better. Lisa, a highly recommended orthopedic vet, examined her with me. She thought that that swelling felt like an infection maybe from a small wound, instead of a strain or sprain. Muddy didn’t have any wounds, but we put her on some antibiotics to see if it would help.”

“Some of the dogs are suffering from a horrible case of chafing on their hind end.” “…All the heat and moisture is irritating their skin, especially between the hind legs on the boys. The poor dogs have lost hair and are red and raw.”

– Karin Hendrickson, blog, 2013 Recap

Veterinarians allow Dallas Seavey’s limping dog to race:

“The onslaught of top mushers and crowd favorites continued with the arrival of Dallas Seavey. He said the trail was slow and ended up leaving one of his pups behind. ‘He’s got kind of a mystery limp in the front left. I had the vets check it out at the last checkpoint and they didn’t find anything. It’s definitely effecting him…'”

– Alaska Public Radio, March 7, 2012

At Rainy Pass checkpoint, Rick Swenson told vets his dogs had a virus:

“Veterinarians in Rainy Pass on Wednesday, a checkpoint 176 miles before McGrath, said that [Rick] Swenson had talked about his dogs picking up a virus.”

– Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2005

Rick Swenson arrived at Rainy Pass with 16 dogs and left with 16:

2005 Iditarod – Rainy Pass Checkpoint

Musher

Time In

Dogs In

Time Out

Dogs Out

Rest Time

Rick Swenson

3/07/2005 17:56

16

3/07/2005 18:00

16

00:04

– Iditarod website, 2005

QUESTIONS:

1) Why didn’t the vets pull the sick dogs from the race?
2) Swenson stayed at the Rainy Pass checkpoint for four minutes. Did the vets give his dogs physical examinations?
3) Why didn’t Swenson leave his sick dogs at the checkpoint?

Vet doesn’t pull injured dog from the race:

Veterinarian: “Get some povidone-iodine. Beta iodine.”

DeeDee Jonrowe, holding a dog’s leg: “OK.”

Veterinarian: “Beta iodine. Then I think it would probably be better to wrap it. It’s been cold all this time so it doesn’t stiffen up on him while he’s going to be racing.”

DeeDee Jonrowe: “OK.”

Veterinarian: “Wrap it.”

DeeDee Jonrowe: “Wrap it with a hot pack?”

Veterinarian: “Yes.”

DeeDee Jonrowe, taping the dog’s leg: “OK.”

Veterinarian: “Tape it more.”

Sound of the dog crying.

– Outdoor Life Network (OLN), Kaltag checkpoint, Iditarod, 2005

DeeDee Jonrowe arrived at the Kaltag checkpoint with 12 dogs and left with 12 dogs.

– Iditarod website, 2005

Veterinarians do not pull Steve Madsen’s sick dogs from race:

“Some of the dogs had been sick with diarrhea and treated at a prior checkpoint. They showed little spark after that.

Battling the winds, Madsen could practically see their body fat melting off.”

– Kay Richardson, The Columbian, April 16, 2006

Veterinarians don’t pull Laura Neese’s sick dogs out of the Iditarod:

“Some [things] were a little brutal. Like the nighttime Alaskan temperatures that plunged to 50 degrees below zero. Or the stomach virus that ran through her [Laura Neese’s] pack of 16 dogs.” “A couple [of dogs] had minor injuries. Others were hit hard by the virus that seemed to be running through many of the dog packs on the course.”

– Tanda Gmiter, Michigan Live Media Group, March 18, 2017

Veterinarian doesn’t pull dog with elevated heart rate out of the Iditarod:

“Granted, there is a scene in which an Iditarod veterinarian suggests the then 27-year-old graduate of Oklahoma University drop a dog with an elevated heart rate only to have [Patrick] Beall decide the dog is good to go to the next checkpoint.”

– craigmedrednews.com, April 26, 2017

Veterinarians do not pull limping dog from Iditarod:

“When leaving the Nikolai checkpoint, leader Brutus began limping badly so I stopped the team before we got of the checkpoint.”

– Warren, James and Warren, Christopher. Following My Father’s Dream, James and Christopher Warren, 2005

Veterinarians do not pull Kelly Maixner’s sick dogs from Iditarod:

“He [Kelly Maixner] should have done better this year, but one dog got sick the first day and it just spread through the rest of the dogs.”

– Joel Maixner is speaking about his son Kelly Maixner.
– Royal McGregor, The Dickinson Press, March 28, 2013

Veterinarian doesn’t pull Rachael Scdoris’ sick dogs from race:

“Their diarrhea had not improved and I could tell they were not as healthy as at the start of the race. Although they drank as much as the other dogs they were becoming dehydrated. If the medication did not kick in, they would begin to lose weight and the physical strain of running would take them down even faster. I was concerned enough that I called the veterinarian’s attention to it. He gave me more medication.”

– Scdoris, Rachael and Steber, Rick. No End in Sight: My Life as a Blind Iditarod Racer, New York: St. Martin’s Griffin, 2007

“Considering his dogs struggles with diarrhea from Day 2 of the Iditarod all the way to his 24-hour stop in the ghost town of Iditarod, he’s [Ed Iten’s] pleased. ‘I saw my first turd today,’ he said.”

– Kevin Klott, Anchorage Daily News, March 11, 2007

(The 2007 Iditarod started on March 3. After the 2007 Iditarod, the veterinary staff gave Ed Iten its Humanitarian Award. – Iditarod website, 2007)

Veterinarians don’t pull James Warren’s sick dogs from race:

“Raven’s shoulder was sore but they allowed me to take her with the promise of carrying her if she got worse.”

– James Warren talking about Iditarod veterinarians
– James Warren, Iditarod ’06 Journal, published on the Internet

“The dogs I had left were not the strongest. Among them was 38 lb Utah who was still sick and hardly pulling.”

“Utah was feverish and was marginal at best.” “I shifted to Utah and claimed that Utah’s fever may be a normal temperature for her and pointed out she wasn’t dehydrated. They [the veterinarians] relented and left her in the team with the promise of checking her in Ophir.”

– James Warren’s report on what happened at the Takotna checkpoint
– James Warren, Iditarod ’06 Journal, published on the Internet

Ophir to Cripple to Ruby:

“When time came to feed and get ready to go I found they were definitely very sick and not thrilled about running. I thought if I got them into Cripple I could nurse them through the illness with the help of the vets.”

“With meds from the vet I medicated the dogs.”

“Cripple to Ruby was nearly a disaster.” “I struggled for mile after mile. The dogs were sick.”

– Warren, James and Warren, Christopher. Following My Father’s Dream, James and Christopher Warren, 2005

“A sprain is an injury caused by sudden stretching or tearing of the ligaments in and around the joint, or the joint capsule itself. Signs are pain over the joint, swelling of the tissues, and temporary lameness.”

“It is most important to prevent further injury by resting the affected part. Restrict activity by confining the dog in a small area. Apply cold packs to the injured joint for 15 to 30 minutes, three or four times a day for the first 24 hours.”

– pets.webmd.com/dogs/dog-sprains-strains, 2012

Veterinarian allows dog with raw paw to continue to race:

“The rest of her [Mary Shields] dogs were in good shape, except for Ambler whose left front foot pad was raw. Along with dog booties and antibiotics from the veterinarian Amber continued on to Nome.”

“I had stopped at the Rainy Pass checkpoint for a couple of hours to give the dogs a ‘trail feed,’ pick up food, drop Jake (he had a bicep injury), and have Lolo examined for some small kink in his gait. The examination of Lolo came up blank. Soon, we were off.”

“We were moving along on the slight downhill between the upper part of the [Dalzell] gorge and the lower part, the part where all the bare ice is. I was getting ready to give the dogs their food and water when it happened. Lolo collapsed.”

– Rob Loveman, Rob’s Writings, April, 2009

– According to the Iditarod website, Rob Loveman was at the Rainy Pass checkpoint for 2 hours and 31 minutes.

(From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: Lobo collapsed before reaching the Rohn checkpoint. The Rohn checkpoint is 48 miles away from the one at Rainy Pass.)

Veterinarians allow sick and injured dogs to start Iditarod

Veterinarians allow dogs with cancer to start racing in Iditarod:

“Aberdeen’s presence on the team is even more of a surprise. He was a standout yearling last year, but in the spring we found a large lump on his hind leg. We had the cancer removed, but the vet said it was sure to come back and would likely result in him losing his leg. He also said that the tumor had been growing around the tendons and hock joint, and there had been some damage in removing it, so he would likely have joint problems. The lump did start to reappear….”

– Karin Hendrickson, Iditarod 2009, article on her website

“The dogs were all in good shape except for a slight case of diarrhea.

The vet said, ‘It could be related to stress from the ride.’ She paused, and then asked, ‘Do you know that this one has a lump on her mammary?’I said, ‘Yes, Hount, she has had it for two years.'”

“I left Shaktoolik, forty-five minutes after John did. Hount was in single lead and had been ever since John and I became the Dynamic Duo.”

“He [veterinarian Terry Adkins] saw very little diarrhea along the trial from the ceremonial start Saturday, he said, adding though that John Barron of Helmville told him his dogs had it. Loose stools are a sign of ill health. Sled dogs relieve their bowels on the run.”

– Mark Downey, Great Falls Tribune, March 4, 2002

[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: Because the dogs “relieve their bowels on the run,” it is likely that the dogs in back of those who were stricken with diarrhea inhaled this fecal material. The bacterial material it contains could cause infection and death. Sick dogs should be pulled out of the race.]

Veterinarians allow dogs with injuries to start Iditarod:

“Last year, I started my run in the Iditarod swinging for a homerun right out of the starting gate. We did well for a while, but a gift basket assortment of nagging injuries left over from the Beargrease the month prior knocked me back somewhat, and a wicked nasty case of the doggy flu pretty much finished me off by the time I reached the Yukon.”

“Oh well–that’s just the way it goes sometimes. I met some pretty neat people while I was limping along–Pete Kaiser was one of them.”

– Jason Barron, Jason Barron’s blog, March 2011

“He’s [Don Bower’s dog Batman] had an open sore on one of his front footpads since before the race and even with booties and lots of ointment, it’s not improving.”

“The rookie is making his second Iditarod attempt. His team became sick with kennel cough in the 2012 race, forcing him to scratch in Kaltag. [Josh Cadziw] said, “As soon as I got to Anchorage, last year, the whole team was coughing.”

– Beth Bragg, Anchorage Daily News, March 2, 2013

“Disappointment in the Iditarod. After contacting Kennel Cough before the race I had hopes the team would recover in time. Unfortunately only some of them did. By McGrath I was down to 9 dogs from the 16 that started, due to a combination of illness & injury. The remaining dogs were still showing strong symptoms of the cough, and with only one leader remaining I decided it was in the best interest of the dogs to end the race at this point.”

“The run from TAKOTNA to OPHIR is short, but hilly. I gauge my team by the time interval we take to cover this distance. A good time is 2 and a half hours. I always think back to my first Iditarod. My entire dog team had kennel cough and were moving slowly right here.”

“One of his dogs caught a virus three days before the start and it went dog-to-dog through his team through the first two-thirds of the race, he [John Barron] said.”

– Mark Downey, Great Falls Tribune, March 14, 2002

“Two of his [Bartlett’s] veteran dogs were unable to keep running.” “Bartlett suspects the dogs were suffering from a virus. They had not wanted to eat since the ceremonial start Saturday in Anchorage…”

– Rachel D’Oro, Associated Press, Wednesday, March 5, 2003
[In 2003, the Iditarod restart was in Fairbanks on Monday, March 3, two days after the Anchorage ceremonial start. According to the AP report, Barlett’s dogs raced for at least three days even though they were too sick to eat.]

Pregnant dogs forced to run in Iditarod

Pregnant sled dogs have been forced to race in the Iditarod. Strenuous exercise is bad for ALL pregnant dogs.

“In the past, dogs that were too thin and dogs that were in the last trimester of pregnancy have made it to the starting line. Fortunately the head veterinarian has the authority to prevent these dogs from starting the race….”

“Moderate exercise is best for the pregnant dog. Neither forced rest or strenuous exercise is a good idea. Short periods of gentle play and short walks are good.”

– Lakewood Veterinary, Rushford, NY, website article, 2012

“I don’t usually advise strict rest during a dog’s pregnancy. I wouldn’t recommend doing regular super strenuous activity like long agility trials or marathon running, but jumping on or off of the furniture is not going to cause any harm to developing babies.”

– Dr. Marie, DVM, AskAVetQuestion.com, website article, 2012

“The bitch should continue to have regular, but not strenuous, exercise to help her maintain her muscle tone and not become overweight.”

“Your dog needs regular, though not strenuous, exercise during her pregnancy to help maintain muscle tone.”

– vetinfo.com, website article, 2012

“Strenuous exercise for a pregnant animal may be harmful, but a moderate amount is recommended. Moderate exercise includes short walks and short periods of gentle play.”

– Durango Animal Hospital, Las Vegas, Nevada, website article, 2012

“Moderate exercise is the proper approach. Neither forced rest or strenuous exercise is a good idea. Short periods of gentle play and short walks are good.”

– Peach Grove Animal Hospital, Cincinnati, OH, website article, 2012

“Taking care of a pregnant pet can be extremely difficult. To help, The Saturday Early Show’s resident veterinarian Debbye Turner shared some tips in the latest Pet Planet.” “Moderate exercise is good for a pregnant dog. But avoid strenuous activity and excessively stressful situations, Turner advises.”

– Rome Neal, CBSNEWS.com, February, 2009

A normal level of exercise, but not strenuous, is recommended for pregnant dogs.

– Linda Mar Veterinary Hospital website, 2010

“Regular exercise and walks will help your pregnant dog keep her muscle tone and general health. Working the working breeds, intensive training or taking the dog on a show circuit is not a good idea.”

– Dr. Ron Hines, veterinarian, 2ndchance.info, 2010

Jokes or cover-ups?

Chief vet claims that vets inspect all dogs at all checkpoints:

“Which is why the Iditarod Trail Committee sends four to seven vets to each checkpoint and inspects every dog when a team arrives, [Stuart] Nelson said.”

– Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 16, 2005

[Look at the statistics published on this page under “No veterinary physical exams given at checkpoints.” What kind of “inspection” do individual dogs get when teams breeze through checkpoints? Sometimes the mushers don’t even stop.]

No veterinary physical exams at checkpoints

“As veterinarian Debbie Hadlock checks Iditarod musher Mitch Seavey’s vet book on Saturday afternoon, checker Lawrence Esmailka points to the outgoing trail at the village of Nulato on the banks of the Yukon River. Seavey spent one minute at the checkpoint. (Bob Hallinen / Alaska Dispatch News)”

– March 11, 2017, Alaska Dispatch News, photo caption

(Mitch Seavey stopped at the Nulato checkpoint for one minute. During this time, Iditarod veterinarian Debbie Hadlock checked his “vet book” but did not examine his 13 dogs. They could have been sick or injured.)

Mushers spending little time at checkpoints is evidence dogs don’t get check-ups:

Andrea Flyod-Wilson: “And, that brings up the question, and I’ve looked through the Iditarod rules pretty closely. There is a whole bunch of stuff there about veterinarian checks before the race and during the course of the race.”

Dr. Paula Kislak: “My understanding is that the Iditarod Trail Committee rules do not require veterinarians to give the dogs physical examinations at the checkpoints Many of the mushers spend less than five minutes at the checkpoints. This would certainly be inadequate time and evidence of the fact that they’re not getting check-ups. The veterinary care that’s being required by the Iditarod Trail Committee is completely inadequate.”

– Andrea Floyd-Wilson is the host of the All About Animals Radio Show. On February 23, 2003, she interviewed Paula Kislak, DVM, President of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights.

Top teams not getting exams for dogs:

“[Mitch] Seavey asked how many mushers got to Nome without having exams at every checkpoint. [Stuart Nelson] noted that many of the top teams are passing through checkpoints without stopping.”

– Stuart Nelson is the Iditarod’s chief veterinarian
– Mitch Seavey is an Iditarod musher and member of the Iditarod Board of Directors
– Minutes of the Iditarod Board meeting, April 23, 2004

Aliy Zirkle hasn’t stopped at the Skwentna checkpoint for the past 11 years:

Tim Bodony: “This is your first checkpoint since Takotna.”

Aliy Zirkle: “Yeah.”

Tim Bodony: “Have you missed checkpoints or this part of the fun for you?”

Aliy Zirkle: “I’m standard not in checkpoints a lot. Actually I’ve run Iditarod 12 times now and this year is the first time I went to Skwentna.”

“Most of the 87 dog teams in this year’s race apparently opted to skip the first checkpoint, Yentna.”

– Jon Little, Cabelas website, March 8, 2004
– Little was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and was an Iditarod musher

Checkpoint closed:

“The checkpoint was closed when Barry [Lee] mushed into the village on the morning of March 13.”

– O’Donoghue, Brian Patrick. My Lead Dog was a Lesbian, New York:Vintage Books, 1996
– O’Donoghue was a reporter for the Fairbanks News-Miner

Musher speeds through checkpoint without getting physical examinations for his dogs:

“Buser reached Nulato at 4:30 a.m. Saturday. He paused for 2 minutes, just long enough to drop a dog at the checkpoint.”

– Maureen Clark, Associated Press, March 9, 2002

Musher thinks about blowing through checkpoints:

“One [rookie] cornered me recently and peppered me with questions like, ‘What happens if I want to blow through a checkpoint: Will the dogs just want to lie down?’ Answer: Not if they are trained to run through checkpoints.”

– Jon Little, Cabelas website, March 7, 2004
– Little is a former reporter with the Anchorage Daily News and was an Iditarod musher

Dogs are pushed to race without being given veterinary physical exams:

[Some dogs may have been suffering from joint and muscle pains, injuries or illnesses.]

“I covered the Iditarod dog-sled race ten times. Walking out onto the ice of the Bering Sea in February, the Northern Lights dancing a spectacular show above, is a distinct memory. But watching those huskies’ paws bleed and crack during their 1100-mile, 22-hour-a-day run across the Alaskan tundra, was heartache for a dog lover.”

Veterinarians do NOT give dogs physical exams when mushers blast through checkpoints:

[Some dogs may have been suffering from joint and muscle pains, injuries or illnesses.]

A sample of the data from the 2017 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Minutes at checkpoint

Melissa Stewart

Koyukuk

14

0:04

Joar Leifseth Ulsom

Nulato

12

0:01

Aliy Zirkle

Nulato

16

0:01

Hugh Neff

Ruby

13

0:01

Mitch Seavey

Nulato

13

0:01

Ray Redington Jr

Koyukuk

13

0:02

Dallas Seavey

Nulato

13

0:01

Trent Herbst

Nulato

12

0:02

Justin Stielstra

Nulato

13

0:02

John Baker

Shaktoolik

12

0:05

Linwood Fiedler

Elim

9

0:03

A sample of the data from the 2016 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Time at checkpoint

Scott Smith

Elim

12

00:02

Richie Diehl

Elim

10

00:03

Aliy Zirkle

McGrath

15

00:02

Mitch Seavey

McGrath

15

00:00

Ed Stielstra

McGrath

15

00:01

Brent Sass

Takotna

15

00:02

Dallas Seavey

Takotna

14

00:03

Robert Sorlie

Takotna

15

00:01

Noah Burmeister

Rainy Pass

16

00:00

Richie Diehl

Rainy Pass

16

00:00

Kelly Maixner

Rainy Pass

16

00:03

A sample of the data from the 2015 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Time at checkpoint

Dallas Seavey

Unalakleet

12

00:05

Jessie Royer

Koyukuk

15

00:03

Aliy Zirkle

Koyukuk

16

00:04

Jeff King

Ruby

16

00:00

Mitch Seavey

Nulato

12

00:02

Ken Anderson

Koyukuk

14

00:03

Joar Leifseth Ulsom

Nulato

12

00:02

Ray Redington, Jr.

Nenana

16

00:00

Peter Kaiser

Nulato

12

00:02

Christian Turner

Nulato

13

00:05

Jason Campeau

Nulato

13

00:03

A sample of the data from the 2014 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Minutes at checkpoint

John Baker

McGrath

16

0:00

Martin Buser

Rohn

16

0:03

Kelly Maixner

Finger Lake

16

0:05

Sonny Lindner

Takotna

16

0:04

Michelle Phillips

McGrath

16

0:00

Ken Anderson

Skwentna

16

0:05

Mitch Seavey

McGrath

15

0:02

Dallas Seavey

Unalakleet

10

0:02

Aliy Zirkle

Finger Lake

15

0:02

Jason Ulsom

Takotna

15

0:02

Aaron Burmeister

Ruby

12

0:01

A sample of the data from the 2013 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Minutes at checkpoint

Ray Redington, Jr

Anik

12

0:02

Martin Buser

Rainy Pass

16

0:02

DeeDee Jonrowe

Finger Lake

16

0:01

Sonny Lindner

Takotna

14

0:02

Jake Berkowitz

Anvik

16

0:01

Jeff King

Shageluk

15

0:01

Mitch Seavey

Anvik

13

0:01

Dallas Seavey

McGrath

14

0:02

Aliy Zirkle

Finger Lake

16

0:03

Jason Ulsom

McGrath

14

0:02

Robert Bundtzen

Takotna

16

0:04

A sample of the data from the 2012 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Minutes at checkpoint

Anjanette Steer

McGrath

14

0:01

Martin Buser

Tokotna

15

0:02

Aliy Zirkle

Finger Lake

16

0:01

Scott Janssen

Finger Lake

16

0:02

Pete Kaiser

Skwentna

16

0:04

Ken Anderson

Finger Lake

16

0:01

Jeff King

McGrath

15

0:02

Sonny Lindner

Ophir

15

0:02

Brent Sass

Ophir

15

0:04

John Baker

Ophir

12

0:03

Paul Gebhart

McGrath

14

0:02

A sample of the data from the 2011 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dog arriving at checkpoint

Time at checkpoint

Jessie Royer

Anvik

12

00:01

Sebastian Schnuelle

Finger Lake

16

00:01

Martin Buser

Shageluk

14

00:03

Mitch Seavey

McGrath

13

00:01

Ali Zirkle

McGrath

14

00:02

Hugh Neff

Ophir

13

00:01

Ray Redington Jr.

McGrath

13

00:01

DeeDee Jonrowe

Shageluk

12

00:01

Ken Anderson

Anvik

13

00:02

Dallas Seavey

Finger Lake

16

00:01

Cym Smyth

Skwentna

16

00:00

A sample of the data from the 2010 Iditarod (Source: Iditarod website)

Name of musher

Checkpoint

Number of dogs arriving at checkpoint

Time at checkpoint

Martin Buser

Rainy Pass

16

00:01

Sonny Lindner

Ophir

15

00:03

Aliy Zirkle

Skwentna

16

00:02

Trent Herbst

Takotna

14

00:04

Mitch Seavey

Yentna

16

00:03

Tom Thurston

Rainy Pass

16

00:02

Dallas Seavey

Takotna

14

00:03

Dan Kaduce

McGrath

16

00:02

Sven Haltman

Rainy Pass

16

00:01

Jason Barron

McGrath

15

00:02

Cindy Gallea

Finger Lake

16

00:02

Does chief vet have a short memory?

“For the first time in recent memory, mushers pulled into a checkpoint before veterinarians arrived to monitor their dogs.

‘To not have a vet there is a foreign concept to me,’ head veterinarian Dr. Stuart Nelson Jr. said from Nome, where late Tuesday afternoon he was still scrambling to get vets to White Mountain, 77 miles to the east.”

– Joel Gay, Anchorage Daily News, March 16, 2005

[Look under the heading below, “Veterinarians cannot get to checkpoints.” You’ll read about vets not being able to get to the Cripple checkpoint and about checkpoint staffing problems during the 2004 Iditarod.]

Veterinarians can't examine dogs

“‘Anchorage had record snow amounts and cold conditions as low as minus-40 degrees,’ [Stephanie] White said. ‘We couldn’t get all of the veterinarians flown out because of the weather.'”

– Stephanie White volunteered as an acting race judge at the Kaltag checkpoint.
– Livi Stanford, The Village Daily Sun, March 25, 2012

Storm blocks access to Cripple checkpoint:

“The same weather that probably was slowing those two [mushers] also made it difficult to keep tabs on them. No aircraft risked flying into the storm clouds blocking access to Cripple on Wednesday. Race officials, veterinarians and simple reporters like me all were turned back.”

– Jon Little, Cabelas website, March 10, 2004
– Little was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and was an Iditarod musher

Storm blocks access to White Mountain checkpoint:

“With all the bad weather I guess the Iditarod officials were having a hard time flying people in to man the checkpoint because I was surprised to find no one around to take my time into the checkpoint.”

“Martin Buser’s wife, Kathy, had been flying along the trail watching the teams – and of course Martin – when her plane was grounded because of bad weather. She was stuck in White Mtn. so she jumped in and took over the checkpoint and became the checker, timer, and vet all in one.”

– Jessie Royer, Jessie’s Sled Dog Page, website page, 2005

Checkpoints understaffed:

“[Stuart] Nelson commented that staffing checkpoints became an issue at some points during the race. Flying conditions were marginal and some personnel were delayed a full day because of that.”

“The symptoms of norovirus illness usually include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and some stomach cramping. Sometimes people additionally have a low-grade fever, chills, headache, muscle aches, and a general sense of tiredness. The illness often begins suddenly, and the infected person may feel very sick.”

“Noroviruses are very contagious and can spread easily from person to person. Both stool and vomit are infectious.”

“People infected with norovirus are contagious from the moment they begin feeling ill to at least 3 days after recovery. Some people may be contagious for as long as 2 weeks after recovery.”

“Currently, there is no antiviral medication that works against norovirus and there is no vaccine to prevent infection. Norovirus infection cannot be treated with antibiotics. This is because antibiotics work to fight bacteria and not viruses.”

“He [veterinarian Dr. Jim Brick] headed to Alaska for the first time in 1999 and, for several years, served on the race trail as a check point vet. But, one year, while volunteering in that capacity in came down with pneumonia and had to hole up for seven days in a tent on a frozen river.”

– John Lowe, The Daily Jeffersonian, March 2, 2008

Sick and injured dogs suffer between checkpoints without vet care

Veterinarians are only stationed at checkpoints. Consequently, when dogs become sick or are injured in remote areas, they do not get help from anyone who is knowledgeable about canine medical care. Dogs may be in agony for many miles. (The Iditarod does not require mushers to take classes or be certified in canine first aid.)

Distance between some checkpoints:

Cripple to Ruby

112 miles

Kaltag to Unalakleet

90 miles

Rohn to Nikolai

75 miles

Ophir to Iditarod

90 miles

Iditarod to Shageluk

65 miles

Shaktoolik to Koyuk

58 miles

Grayling to Eagle Island

60 miles

– Checkpoint distances are from the Iditarod’s website

Sleep deprived veterinarians

“As soon as mushers started streaming in, [Randy] Parent explained, that veterinarian wouldn’t be able to get more than an hour or two of sleep through about three days of racing.”

– Randy Parent has been the checker at the Kaltag checkpoint for six years
– John Little, Cabelas website, March 14, 2003
– Little was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News and was an Iditarod musher

Sleep deprived vets have greatly impaired mental functioning

Exhausted veterinarian relies on muscle memory to check dogs:

“He [Veterinarian Greg Closter] said he’s exhausted. He relies on muscle memory as he checks the dogs.”

“A lack of sleep makes it difficult to carry out even mundane acts, such as conversing intelligibly or calculating a waiter’s tip.”

– B. Bower, Science News, February 12, 2000

One minute. Iditarod veterinarian had one minute to examine each dog during the race.

Dogs sent to drug infested prison

Tough job keeping drugs out of Alaska’s prisons:

“Alaska’s public safety commissioner [Walt Monegan] says keeping drugs out of state prisons continues to be a tough task.”

– Becky Bohrer, Associated Press, US News and World Report, March 8, 2017

5 Hiland Mountain prisoners suffer drug overdoses:

” A series of five overdoses over 24 hours at an Eagle River women’s prison this week are under investigation by state authorities.”

“[Megan] Edge wrote in a statement. ‘In four out of five of the incidents, medical responders administered Narcan, an FDA-approved drug capable of reversing an opioid drug overdose.’Edge said the department’s Professional Conduct Unit is trying to find out what happened. It wasn’t immediately clear what drug or drugs were used in the overdoses, whether they were part of the same supply or how they had been brought into the prison.”

“Trail Fact: A record 44 inmates from the Hiland Mountain/Meadow Creek correctional centers in Eagle River have volunteered to care for dogs dropped from race teams, Superintendent Dean Marshall said. Dogs dropped from teams at checkpoints before the midway point of the race are flown to Anchorage and then taken to the prison for tending until the mushers retrieve them.”

– Associated Press, Fairbanks News-Miner, March 7, 2005

“The pilots ferry dropped dogs back to Anchorage, where volunteers take the animals to the Eagle River Correctional Center; there, inmates feed, water and care for canines until their owners return from the trail.”

“As soon as possible, these dogs are flown to dropped-dog hub checkpoints and from there to facilities at either Eagle River [near Anchorage] or Nome. At Eagle River, the minimum-security inmates and their supervisors at Hiland Mountain and Meadow Creek Correctional Center care for dogs dropped from the race.”

“Little from Kasilof, a reporter for the Daily News, left the dog [Carhartt] in the care of Iditarod handlers Tuesday because it looked tired and wasn’t eating well.”

“Iditarod executive director Stan Hooley said the dog had been flown to Anchorage on Wednesday by volunteers of the Iditarod Air Force. It was kept overnight and into the day at Eagle River’s Hiland Mountain Correctional Center, where inmates tend dropped dogs.”

“The dog was signed our of Hiland Mountain late Thursday by Melissa DeVaughn, an experienced musher and co-worker of Little’s.”

“She found it dead in her yard Friday morning.”

– Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 10, 2001

Sick and injured dogs tied outside with no shelter in pouring rain and in snow:

“Another call was a complaint on the dropped dogs from the Iditarod. They are taken to the Highland Correctional Center and were tied out there with no shelter and it was pouring rain.

As we have always said, “LOOK BEHIND THE SCENES”

– Alaska SPCA website, March 12, 2005

“Over the weekend, Hiland was quite the scene after more than 75 dropped dogs arrived late Friday. The dogs usually stay in a covered area but with an overflow crowd some were staked out in the snow.”

– Lisa Demer, Anchorage Daily News, March 14, 2011

Prison inmate gives dogs medication:

“If there’s any medication that needs to be done, the lead dog handler takes care of that. And just interact with them, socialize with ’em,” says Hiland Mountain housing supervisor David Beaulieu.”

– Angela Unruh KTUU-TV, Anchorage, KTUU.com, March 14, 2005

Mushers can override vets and force sick and injured dogs to race

Vets do not have the authority to exclude sick and injured dogs from the race:

“…I’ve been able to keep a couple of dogs in the team the vets thought I should drop.”

“The checkpoint’s vet has recommended sending Pig [Land’s lead dog] back to Anchorage, too. ‘He yanked on my dogs’ joints and poked hard at their muscles,’ Land gripes. ‘But he just doesn’t have the sensibility to tell me what I can do with Pig.” “… Land decides she will chance it [keeping Pig in the race].”

“Peryll Kyzer is nursing her dogs along, including one vets advised her to drop in Nikolai.”

– Alaska Public Radio Network, 1997 Iditarod audio files

Iditarod dogs given drugs

Dallas Seaveys dogs are given opioids:

“Iditarod race officials announced Monday that four-time Iditarod champion Dallas Seavey was the musher whose dogs tested positive for a prohibited opioid painkiller [tramadol] in the 2017 race.”“Iditarod officials said in a statement earlier Monday, before naming Seavey, that a drug testing team collected urine samples from four of the unnamed musher’s dogs in Nome, about six hours after the team completed the race. The statement said that before the race started, the musher had requested the team delay its collection from his or her team because he or she had already ordered additional tests and wanted to make sure the dogs ‘were sufficiently rested’ for both.

The request was approved and the samples were taken from the team on March 15, the Iditarod statement said.”

– Tegan Hanlon, Alaska Dispatch News, October 23, 2017

Iditarod may not give dogs drug tests:

Iditarod Rule 39 says “dogs are subject to the collection of urine or blood samples, at the discretion of the testing veterinarian….” That only means tests might be given. The Iditarod is NOT saying that tests WILL be given.

– Sled Dog Action Coalition

Myth of effective drug testing:

[When it’s been so difficult to develop effective drug tests for humans, you know the same difficulties occur with testing dogs for drugs.]

“Doping experts have long known that drug tests catch only a tiny fraction of the athletes who use banned substances because athletes are constantly finding new drugs and techniques to evade detection.”

– Tim Rohan, The New York Times, August 23, 2013

“You can test for designer drugs, but only if you know what you’re looking for, says Jon Danaceau, an associate toxicologist at the University of Utah’s Center for Human Toxicology.

‘If somebody comes up with a completely novel drug that we don’t know to look for it, yeah, it’s possible that we can miss it,’ Danaceau says.

Bath salts. Drug tests only catch a tiny number of people who use banned substances. For example, there are hundreds of bath salt compounds and only tests for 40 of them. The Iditarod isn’t testing for every drug mushers may use.

Another problem is that dopers are using synthetic versions of stuff the body already makes — like human growth hormone and erythropoietin (EPO), which boosts red blood cells. Even sophisticated tests can’t always tell the difference.

And there are so many new drugs that it’s hard for testers to keep up. [Dr. Charles] Yesalis say these drugs are intended for people with potentially deadly diseases such as cancer or muscular dystrophy.

‘But there are these unethical medical scientists that are sitting up in the trees like vultures waiting to pounce on them for their use in athletics,’ Yesalis says. ‘And some of these drugs work well.’

Even knowing what drugs to test for might not be enough. Future dopers are likely to try gene doping, which will be almost impossible to detect.

Lee Sweeney from the University of Pennsylvania is working with a gene that can be injected into a muscle to make the muscle larger. It works on rodents and dogs.”

– Jon Hamilton, NPR, All Things Considered, July 10, 2008

“‘We are not testing for everything that may be out there,’ said Dr. Barry Logan, one of the nation’s leading toxicologists.

That’s because they can’t.

Clandestine labs are using more than 100 chemical compounds to make synthetic marijuana, but even the most sophisticated lab can only test for 17, said Logan, director of Forensic and Toxicological Services at NMS Labs in Pennsylvania….

Bath salts, also known as synthetic amphetamines, are also hard to track for the same reason.

There are hundreds of bath salt compounds out there, but toxicologists can only test for 40, Logan said.

‘This is always a moving target,’ Logan said. ‘As soon as a test exists for something, there are new compounds waiting in the wings. We are always a step behind.’”

– Susannah Bryan, Sun Sentinel, July 6, 2012

Most drugs given early in Iditarod wouldn’t be detected in dog’s urine days later:

“Testing blood, saliva, or urine can detect most drugs for 1 to 4 days after use.”

– Forensic Fluids, website

At a physiological and anatomical level dogs and humans are remarkably similar. There is no reason to think that extremely high Lcarnitine levels and synthetic thyroid medication wouldn’t also enhance the athletic performance of dogs.

Are Iditarod dogs injected with synthetic thyroid hormone or given massive amounts of Lcarnitine to make them run faster without becoming exhausted?

Extremely high Lcarnitine levels enhance athletic performance:

“…Research from the University of Nottingham in England that appeared to show significant improvement in performance when athletes raised their L­carnitine to extremely high, unnatural levels. (L­carnitine is a substance that occurs naturally in the body and helps convert fat to energy.)”

– Matt Hart, The New York Times, May 20, 2017

Syringe. Are Iditarod dogs injected with synthetic thyroid hormone to make them run faster and longer without becoming exhausted? “Two national antidoping authorities are lobbying to add thyroid hormone medication to the list of substances banned in global sports, amid concerns it is being used to boost performance rather than treat disease.” – Sara Germano, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2015. Photo from Wikimedia.

Synthetic thyroid medication enhances athletic performance:

“Two national antidoping authorities are lobbying to add thyroid hormone medication to the list of substances banned in global sports, amid concerns it is being used to boost performance rather than treat disease.”

– Sara Germano, The Wall Street Journal, July 7, 2015

“…Dr. Jeffrey Stuart Brown, an endocrinologist who is known for his belief that synthetic thyroid medication enhances athletic performance.”

“Some experts say that thyroid hormone can serve as a stimulant….”

– Matt Hart, The New York Times, May 20, 2017

No specific dog to veterinarian ratio required

Iditarod Dog Care Measures call for a “staff of 35 veterinarians, including five rookies annually.” Chief Iditarod veterinarian Stu Nelson said, “We strive to have 35 trail veterinarians.” The Iditarod administration does not require a specific dog to veterinarian ratio, so that more dogs racing do not result in more veterinarians on the trail.

– Information on the number of veterinarians comes from the Iditarod website, 2004

Whip used on sled dogs, photo attributed to wikimedia

Vets ignore symptoms of dying dogs

THE STORY OF BURMEISTER’S DOG YELLOWKNIFE

– Noah Burmeister’s dog Yellowknife dies of acute pneumonia:

“The gross necropsy performed on Yellowknife, the 4 year old male from the team of Noah Burmeister which died earlier today, has been completed. According to the board certified veterinary pathologist who conducted the necropsy, preliminary findings indicate that the cause of death was an acute pneumonia.”

– Iditarod Advisory, Iditarod website, March 9, 2006

– Veterinarians at checkpoint thought Yellowknife was healthy:

“‘I was in Rainy Pass when I noticed he wasn’t feeling well,’ said the 26-year-old musher who divides his time between Nome and Nenana. ‘I had one of the vets (veterinarians) look at him. The vets couldn’t find anything (wrong).’

With an OK from the canine medical authorites who work each checkpoint along the course of the 1,100-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race from Anchorage to Nome, Burmeister made the decision to keep the dog in his team and head up and over the Iditarod high point of Rainy Pass at 3,160 feet. ‘After I got done with my rest [at Rainy Pass], I headed up into the (Dalzell) Gorge and he was doing good until all of a sudden he tipped over,’ Burmeiser said.”

– Kevin Klott, Anchorage Daily News, March 9, 2006
(There are 48 miles between the Rainy Pass and Rohn checkpoints.)

THE STORY OF BACKEN’S DOG TAKK WHO HAD ULCERS AND DIED

First, read about canine ulcer symptoms:

Ulcer symptoms include: “borborygmus, inappetence, emesis, and abdominal discomfort or pain. The presence of ulcer disease may be associated with hematemesis, melena, and chronic weight loss.”

[Terms:Borborygmus: Bowel sounds, the gurgling, rumbling, or growling noise from the abdomen; Emesis: Vomiting; Hematemesis: The medical term for bloody vomitus;Melena: Stools or vomit stained black by blood pigment or dark blood products; Inappetence: Lack of desire or appetite]

“Symptoms: intermittent fever, general fatigue, vomiting and gagging, inability to keep down food or fluids –resulting in eventual weight loss of over 40% of body weight, then chronic fatigue -with no energy to stand up, internal bleeding in the stomach and intestines (evident by black stools). He may vomit as much as 12-15 times per day.”

– David Galloway, Houston Chronicle, March 12, 2000
– David Galloway is a content supervisor and columnist for the Houston Chronicle

– Vets were at the checkpoint when Backen and Takk arrived:

“Kjetil Backen, the first musher up the Yukon River, was due in any time and one of the veterinarians was catching a mid-afternoon nap.”

“[Kjetil] Backen arrived in Kaltag [checkpoint] at 2:22 p.m. Saturday and six hours later he was still there.”

“Takk, which means thank you in Norwegian, had a sore wrist.”

“Because the dog’s wrist was sore, he was not pulling well, Backen said.”

– Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 14, 2004

– Takk drops dead the next day:

“As the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race moved to the Bering Sea coast on Sunday, disaster struck on almost all levels for front-running Kjetil Backen when his lead dog Takk fell dead within a mile of the checkpoint.

The dog, race marshal Mark Nordman said, ‘just sad down and died right there.'”

– Joel Gay and Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 15, 2004

Takk, according to Iditarod officials, died of blood loss associated with gastric ulcers.

– Jeff Jacobs, Hartford Courant, March 18, 2004

THE STORY OF PAUL GEBHARDT’S DOG RITA WHO BLED INTERNALLY FROM ULCERS AND DIED

“Half an hour after a 24-hour rest in the checkpoint of Anvik, a dog in the team of musher Paul Gebhardt of Kasilof died on Saturday, the first to perish in this year’s Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.

Veterinarians say they are baffled.

Gebhardt, Iditarod officials reported, was just out of Anvik on the 20-mile trail to Grayling when the dog dropped in its traces.”

– Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, March 12, 2005

[Rita bled internally from ulcers and died. Iditarod rules require mushers to take two eight hour layovers and one 24 hour layover in a race that’s 1,150 miles and spans 8 to 15 days. The remainder of the time the dogs may be racing. Rita died 30 minutes outside Anvik, a checkpoint where Gebhardt took his 24 layover. Did the vets ignore Rita’s symptoms? Didn’t Rita get a physical exam? Wasn’t she observed? Do the vets know what the symptoms of ulcers are?]

Pattaroni’s dog dies from undiagnosed ulcer:

“Unknown to Pattaroni, or any of the veterinarians at the checkpoints along the trail, the dog had developed a bleeding ulcer. The ulcer caused it to cough up bits of food and stomach lining. This bacteria-laden material, in turn, was inhaled by the dog and ended up in its lungs, causing what doctors call ”aspiration pneumonia” — a deadly lung infection.”

– Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, April 19, 1997

THE STORY OF SWINGLEY’S DOG NELLIE WHO DIED FROM INTUSSUSCEPTION AND PNEUMONIA

– Nellie diagnosed with acute pneumonia:

“Nellie was dropped in Elim on Tuesday, March 15 at a little after 8 a.m. and was transported to Nome early Wednesday afternoon for further treatment related to acute pneumonia. She was transported yesterday evening from Nome to Anchorage for follow up care. Nellie died unexpectedly at approximately 5 a.m. this morning.”

– Iditarod advisory, Thursday, March 17, 2005, Iditarod website

[According to Iditarod rules, dropped dogs who are flown to Anchorage go to the Hiland Mountain/Meadow Creek correctional centers in Eagle River.]

– Nellie also had a double intussusception:

“A gross necropsy has been completed on ‘Nellie,’ a two-year old female from the team of Montana musher Doug Swingley. The initial results indicate that Nellie had a double intussusception.” “In addition, Nellie was being treated for acute pneumonia.”

– Iditarod website, 2005

Read what the Merck Veterinary Manual says about intussusception. Did the vets ignore Nellie’s symptoms? When Nellie got to the prison was she examined by a vet?

“Pathophysiology: Intussusception tends to occur when one segment of the intestine is hypermotile. It may also occur with mass lesions (eg, tumors, granulomas, or scars) that become fixed and tend to get thrust into an adjacent lumen of intestine. The most common area for this to occur is the ileocecocolic junction, where the smaller segment of ileum may slide into the larger lumen of the colon.

Distention with gas and fluid occurs proximal to the obstruction. Strangulation or incarceration of bowel occurs with entrapment of intestinal loops in hernias or mesentery. Venous return is impaired although arterial supply remains intact, leading to venous congestion, anoxia, and, necrosis. Loss of blood into the intestinal lumen and peritoneal cavity and the subsequent emigration of bacteria and toxins from the devitalized tissue ensues. The most common toxin-producing bacteria are Escherichia coli and clostridia.

Grossly, wall edema and hemorrhage and mucosal sloughing are apparent within 1-3 hr. After 4 hr, the affected segment of intestine is turgid, and whole blood collects within the lumen. At 8-2 hr, the affected gut appears black, distended, and elongated. Gross necrosis is evident by 20 hr.

Clinical Findings: Clinical signs of small-intestinal obstruction may include lethargy, anorexia, vomiting, diarrhea, abdominal pain, abdominal distention, fever or subnormal body temperature, dehydration, and shock. Gaseous bowel distention occurs within the initial 12-35 hr after obstruction and is followed by the loss of fluid into the intestinal lumen. Without treatment, death due to hypovolemia ensues within 3-4 days.

Upper or duodenal obstruction tends to present as frequent vomiting. In general, the closer the obstruction to the pylorus, the more severe the vomiting. Obstruction of the lower small intestine (eg, distal jejunum and ileum) is infrequently associated with vomiting. Lethargy, anorexia, weight loss, and ultimate starvation in untreated dogs lead to death within >3 wk.

Intussusception may result in luminal obstruction, mucosal congestion, or infarction, depending on the length of the intussusception and the size of the intestinal loops involved. Clinical signs vary and may include vomiting, abdominal pain, and scant bloody diarrhea. In more chronic cases of intussusception, diarrhea with or without blood is seen. Intussusception is more common in young dogs (< 6-8 mo old).”

“Only one of the five dogs showed any signs of a problem before its death, said Stuart Nelson, Iditarod chief veterinarian. That dog belonged to Joe Redington Sr., who noticed an odd gait in one of his dogs and asked a vet to examine it in Nikolai.

The doctor did a thorough exam, found nothing wrong and assured Redington it was OK to keep the dog in the team. The animal died less than 50 miles down the trail on the way into McGrath and was one of the three dogs later found to be vitamin E deficient.”

– Craig Medred, Anchorage Daily News, April 19, 1997

Vet gives musher veto power over medication

“Veterinarian: ‘We are not putting him on anything for that diarrhea unless you’d like us to.’

(Why didn’t the vet bring the dogs inside the checkpoint shelter for their exams?)

Iditarod veterinarians violate oath

Janice Blue: “I have to ask what is the code for veterinarians in animal medicine? What are you supposed to be, what is your mission, or oath that you all take? Because aren’t there veterinarians at these checkpoints? And, how are they allowing this to happen?”

Dr. Paula Kislak: “Well that’s a good question. Of course, the oath that we take is primarily like human medical doctors to above all do no harm and to protect the well being, and health and welfare of the animals. And that’s impossible to do under these circumstances. There are no requirements for checkups. Some of the mushers stop at checkpoints for less than five minutes, and there are multiple dogs and multiple mushers, and there’s no way that a single veterinarian that may be at a checkpoint would be checking these animals up. There’s no requirement to do so, and it obviously isn’t done, given the fact that the mushers may be there five minutes or less, and they may have eight or 10 dogs, and there may be many mushers. So, that’s just a physical impossibility. It’s not being done and it’s not being required to be done, so the welfare of the animals is not being looked after.

Then, you add on top of that the veterinary association that oversees the race is the International Sled Dog Veterinary Medical Association, and it’s an industry organization. It’s an organization of veterinarians that’s completely associated and intertwined with the racers, and they stand to gain financially from the race industry. And it’s completely incestuous in terms of their being supported by the race industry, so they have no incentive to call out the racers on their abuses of animals, because their livelihood depends on the racers and the Iditarod race.”

– Janice Blue is host of the radio program Go Vegan Texas, KPFT
– Dr. Paula Kislak, DVM, is the president of the Association of Veterinarians for Animal Rights
– The interview was done on February 27, 2006

Veterinarians allow sick injured dogs to start race

Veterinarians let dogs with kennel cough race:

Kyle Hopkins:“So you have a little bit of illness also on your team?”

Sebastian Schnuelle:“Oh, yah, for sure I had that stupid kennel cough like big time. It started like two days before the race.”

– iditablog, Anchorage Daily News, March 9, 2011, Takotna checkpoint
– Kyle Hopkins is a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News.
– The 2011 Iditarod started on March 5.

“None of the sicknesses appear to be contagious, [Samantha] Yeltatzie added, although some dogs were diagnosed with kennel cough before the start of the race.”

– Samantha Yeltatzie was the lead veterinarian in the Nikolai checkpoint.
– Jill Burke, Alaska Dispatch, March 8, 2011

Veterinarian allows dog with swollen wrist start to race:

“Lycos strained his wrist in the last camping trip three weeks ago. He had two weeks off, then 4 easy runs, but the wrist is swollen again. At vet check last Wednesday they said I could probably take him if I was agressive about treatment, but I run the risk of this becoming chronic.”

– Eric O. Rogers, Ph.D. personal blog entry, March 8, 2009

Vets let “gimpy” dogs start racing in Iditarod:

“Like Jones, rookie musher Kelley Maixner is also looking at possibly dropping to 14 dogs. During a training run Wednesday, Maixner noted a few dogs having some trouble.

‘I got a few little banged-up dogs,” said Maixner. “They are doing pretty good, but a little bit gimpy. There (are) two of them, so we will see how they do.’

– Robert DeBerry, Frontiersman, March 6, 2011

(From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: Kelly Maixner started the 2011 Iditarod with these “banged-up,” “gimpy” dogs as part of his team of 16 dogs. His team consists of one and two-year old dogs.)

Veterinarian's stitches come out of dog's torn leg

The dog’s wound reopens when stitches come out:

“As I was arriving into Kaltag, I noticed that one of my dogs was starting to slow down. It was a small female named Click, a dog I purchased a few years ago from Jeff King. She had been such a trooper and had worked so hard. Her story started back before Shageluk when I was going up a steep embankment right before the checkpoint. For whatever reason, the back leg of hers got very close to another female in the team named Cobb who took a quick snap at her. Unfortunately, Cobb managed to cause a tear in her leg.” “The problem was the stitches became undone because hind area moved so fast when she trotted down the trail that the wound was open again. The vet in Kaltag immediately put stitches in her again and she was on the next plane to Anchorage where my handler picked her up the next day.”

– Bruce Linton, Iditarod Journals, website article, 2007

Physician allowed to volunteer as a veterinarian during Iditarod

“A physician volunteering as a veterinarian tried to help, but [Zoya] DeNure’s Iditarod was over.”

– Kyle Hopkins, Anchorage Daily News, March 4, 2011

[From the Sled Dog Action Coalition: A physician is someone who is legally qualified to practice medicine on humans. A veterinarian is someone who is legally qualified to practice medicine on animals.]

Veterinarian Vern Ott: “The mushers send out bags ahead of time with food for the dogs or extra supplies for themselves or maybe harnesses, or new sleds, sled runners, and if they don’t get this far, then we open up the bags and all the perishable foods we leave here. The nonperishable, if they give us a return bag, we put them all in and ship it back to them. So that’s what I’m doing now. I’m separating the perishable from the nonperishable and taking all the nonperishable and shipping it return bag.”

[According to the Iditarod’s website, there were 126 dogs at the Unalakleet checkpoint on March 16, 2010. The checkpoint is 851 miles from Anchorage.]

– Sled Dog Action Coalition, March, 2011

Veterinarians run out of medicine for dogs

“Since few had planned for a long stop, and planes had been unable to deliver fresh supplies, food and medicine for both dogs and people ran short.

‘I had to make judgment calls about who needed what the most and save medicine for the sickest,’ said [Cindy] Johnson. ‘But after four days, treating the animals was easy. I didn’t have anything to give them.'”

Veterinarians allow debarked dogs to race

Iditarod mushers devocalize (debark) their dogs:

“Squeaky (formerly known as ‘Rob’) was bred and spend the first part of his life in the US, but in the summer of ’01, he came up to live with us. He has quickly adapted to working life and is a valued team member. I often mistake him in harness for his Grandfather, Spud – that is quite a complement! Squeaky gets his nickname from his debarked status. Major Races: Iditarod 2003, Iditarod 2004.”

“KEIKO is Rom’s sister, Female, DOB 5/28/02 (7 of 9’s pup). Approx. 50 lbs, debarked, spayed, a little shy. Keiko is a young, happy, hard driving, fast, girl who has been leading since she was a pup. As a two year old she is rapidly becoming one of my main leaders. Finished the Iditarod in 2006, but as the team has gotten faster has not wanted to run lead very often.”

“Dr. Gary W. Ellison, of the College of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Florida, cautioned that the procedure can lead to complications. He said he has had to operate on debarked dogs after excess scar tissue built up in the throat, making it difficult for the dog to breathe.”

– Sam Dolnick, New York Times, February 2, 2010

“Excessive tissue removal results in scar tissue formation that can interfere with breathing.”

– Letter from Christine M. Runnels, DVM, Diplomat, American College of Veterinary Surgeons, March 7, 2005

Debarked dogs more prone to aspirate digestive juices leading to pneumonia:

Dr. Paula Kislak: “This surgery is especially bad, because even under the best of circumstances animals, because of the messing around in the throat area, that are debarked are more prone to aspirate their own digestive juices. And when dogs are put under these intense circumstances of racing and they’re gasping all the time, they’re constantly aspirating or inhaling any vomit or digestive juice that comes up in their mouth, and that sets them up for life-threatening aspiration pneumonias. So that’s a double whammy of the debarking.”

Rob Moore: “This debarking, what is the procedure?”

Dr. Paula Kislak: “It’s a surgical procedure requiring general anesthesia. There’s two actual procedures one goes from the outside of the throat and one goes from the inside of the throat, but it’s the cutting of the vocal cords basically.”

– Dr. Paula Kislak, DVM, is president of the Association of Veterinarins for Animal Rights
– Rob Moore hosts Animal Voices, a radio show in Toronto Canada.
– This interview was done on February 28, 2006

No veterinarians stationed at some checkpoints

No veterinarians stationed at Golovin checkpoint:

“It was in the very early hours of the morning when my Grateful Sled and 11 companions paraded into the metropolis of Golovin (population around 144). I knew that this checkpoint would be a problem before the Race even began.”

“This place is not a food drop or a dog drop. There is no straw or any other Race provision here, not even veterinarians.”

Veterinarian encourages mushers to leave checkpoint

“After taking care of the dogs in a somnambulant daze I stumble up to the checkpoint in the village community center. It is deserted except for half a dozen mushers sprawled out on the benches along the walls. The checker and the vet have retreated to their bunks elsewhere in the town after exhorting us to leave as soon as we can.

Lisa [Moore] and Andy [Sterns] and I aren’t pleased at the implied kick in the pants…” “We need no urging to try to finish the race in a timely manner, and we don’t appreciate all but being tossed out of town just because we’re the last people in the race.”

Sled dogs at Iditarod finish line in Nome. One dog holds up a painful paw. Dogs who finish the 1,000-mile Iditarod do not get veterinary care or exams. Photo attributed to jbrooks on Flickr.

Dog's heart arrhythmia: Ignored or missed?

The day before the Iditarod started, Zoya DeNure’s dog Demon was kicked by a moose. Iditarod vets examined Demon and allowed him to start the race. Did these or other veterinarians ignore Demon’s heart arrhythmia or did they fail to diagnose it?

“DeNure also described the encounter in a series of Facebook posts, reprinted here with permission:

7 p.m., Friday ‘Calling out for all prayers! My team just got tangled with a moose or Tozier track! Demon was kicked in the head, sounds like he’s hurting pretty bad. My race sled got hammered, too! Demon is on his way to see the vet team right now!’

8 p.m., Friday ‘Demon has been seen by ITC vets, he’s sore on his side and shoulder, apparent bruising and area is swollen– he’s not out just yet. We’ll apply cold and hot compress all night. If he can’t run, we’ll know soon enough and we’ll have a great race for him this year.'”

– Kyle Hopkins, Iditarodblog, Anchorage Daily News, March 3, 2012

Demon has a heart arrhythmia:

“Zoya has decided to take her 24 at McGrath. Seems Demon has a heart arrhythmia and needs to shut down.”

– John Schandelmeier, Zoya DeNure’s Facebook page, March 7, 2012, John Schandelmeier is Zoya’s husband.
[The McGrath checkpoint is 300 miles from Willow where the Iditarod officially started on March 4, 2012.]

Dogs eating steroids

“Iditarod rule 39 — Drug Use” allows mushers to put cortico-steroids on dogs’ feet. The Iditarod does not regulate how much steroid cream a musher puts on a dog’s foot. Once the cream is applied, the Iditarod cannot control how much cream a dog licks off and swallows.

ABOUT WORTHLESS: Pre-race veterinary examinations on dogs

“Blood tests, electrocardiograms or physical exams would only identify those dogs with obvious or worst conditions. Nevertheless, just because a dog is considered healthy one day, this is not an assurance that he or she could withstand the rigors of this type of arduous race.”

“The examinations used might disclose overt signs of disease, but cannot tell the whole story. Nothing short of stress tests could determine if there may be problems once the dog is subjected to the extreme stress of the race. Even then, such tests are limited in scope (time and effort) and cannot replicate the race. To reiterate, the race is brutal, dogs are forced into servitude, there is nothing in it for the dogs; it is not at all surprising that individuals die and that a specific or clear cause of death is not always found.”

The 2017 Iditarod starts on Monday, March 6, 2017. There’s no reason to think that dogs who are healthy on February 17 will be healthy on March 6, 17 days later.

— Another example:

The 2013 Iditarod started on March 2.

In 2013, blood work and ECGs were given to the dogs on February 8, 9, 10. 11, 12, 13, 15, 17, 18, 19, 20.

– Iditarod press release, January 24, 2013

— Day after start of 2017 Iditarod, “worrisome” heart murmur found in dog:

“Dweezil, the lead dog that Monica Zappa has made into an Instagram star, will not be returning to the trail after a worrisome heart murmur discovered in Tanana.”

– KTUU-TV, website, March 8, 2017

Did the EKG probes register through the dogs’ thick fur?

“Mikhail Telpin, 59, from Chukotka, Russia, is another member of Team Beringia. Telpin also brought his dog team with him to Alaska. His dogs are a breed called Chukchi and are quite different from Ulsom’s more traditional Iditarod team. Telpin’s dogs are stockier than the typical Alaska Husky. Their coats are so dense that during the required Iditarod health checks veterinarians had trouble getting the EKG probes to register through the dogs’ fur.”

– Julie Anne St. Louis, Anchorage Press, March 7, 2013

Dangerous conditions for dogs in Nome

Drunks wander around dog yard and dogs get loose:

“From 10 p.m. to 6 a.m., Shinkai is in charge of monitoring the lot [with roughly 300 dogs] with a staff of up to six other volunteers and over the years has dealt with everything from drunk people wandering around the lot at night to dogs becoming loose from the line.”

– Alex MacLean, The Union Democrat, April 23, 2013

How many dogs have been injured by the drunks wandering around?

How many dogs who got loose were never found?

Why don’t veterinarians insist on dogs being kept safe and secure?

Veterinarian would have failed dogs on their heart screenings

“[Dr. Gretchen] Love said back home, she’d have failed maybe 80 percent of the dogs on their heart screenings.”

“Exposing your stethoscope to extreme heat or extreme cold can cause the tubing to take on an undesired shape and harden. To avoid this, do not leave your stethoscope in the sun, on hot surfaces, or in extremely hot or cold environments, and do not hang your stethoscope on your vehicle’s rearview mirror.”

“Jake Berkowitz, the Big Lake musher who made it to Nome with 15 dogs in harness, won the award for dog care Sunday at the Iditarod finishers’ banquet in Nome.”

– Anchorage Daily News, March 18, 2013

Veterinarians let Ed Iten race sick dogs and gave him Humanitarian Award for good dog care:

“Considering his dogs struggles with diarrhea from Day 2 of the Iditarod all the way to his 24-hour stop in the ghost town of Iditarod, he’s [Ed Iten’s] pleased. ‘I saw my first turd today,’ he said.”

– Kevin Klott, Anchorage Daily News, March 11, 2007

After the 2007 Iditarod, the veterinary staff gave Ed Iten its Humanitarian Award.

– Iditarod website, 2007

Vets give Martin Buser good dog care award after he forced dogs to run 252 miles over “super rough” ground with only a 4-hour-41-minute rest:

“Four-time champion Martin Buser is repeating last year’s strategy of taking an early 24-hour rest [in Nikolai] after making a nearly nonstop run from the start.”

– Zack Steer, Alaska Dispatch News, March 5, 2014

Martin Buser raced his dogs 252 miles to Nikolai with only giving them a 4 hour and 41 minute rest.

– Information from Iditarod website, 2014

“NIKOLAI — It had started snowing by the time Martin Buser, who has led much of the race with little rest and long runs, woke up Tuesday midway through his 24-hour rest.

Buser had arrived in Nikolai about 1:10 a.m. with what he described as a sprained left ankle.”

“It was unclear, Buser said, exactly when or where he hurt it. The sprain was likely the result of many mishaps between Rohn and Nikolai, probably at the start of the Farewell Burn, he said.

‘I rolled over quite a few times there,” Buser said. “It’s just bare ground. And unforgiving terrain. I mean, tussocks and stumps and rough, rough. Super rough.'”

– Casey Grove, Alaska Dispatch News, March 4, 2014

Martin Buser also forced sick dogs to race:

“The team has struggled with diarrhea, something he [Martin Buser] suspects is due to a virus the dogs picked up earlier down the trail.”

– Suzanna Caldwell, Alaska Dispatch News, March 8, 2014

With sprained ankle and dislocated finger, Buser said he couldn’t do anything:

“‘Happy to be here,’ an emotional Buser told Iditarod Insider after finishing with a team of 12 dogs. ‘I’ve been out of control for so long.’

Three days into a race defined by treacherous trail conditions, Buser sprained his ankle. Not long after that he dislocated the pinky finger on his left hand. The four-time champion from Big Lake went from leading the race to surviving it.

‘All my bodily functions are gone,’ he said. ‘I can’t balance, I can’t steer the sled, I can’t do anything.'”

– Kevin Klott and Beth Bragg, Alaska Dispatch News, March 11, 2014

Martin Buser receives award for outstanding dog care:

“[Martin] Buser has won the Leonhard Seppala Humanitarian Award for outstanding dog care by a competitive racer.”

– Alaska Dispatch News, March 17, 2014

These dogs raced almost 1,000 miles to Nome. They weren’t even given shelters to protect them from the frigid cold, snow or wind. The dogs could easily fight because they are tethered very close to each other.

No vet care for dogs finishing Iditarod

Dogs who are unable to finish the Iditarod receive some veterinary care and exams. But the dogs who somehow manage to complete the full 1,000 mile run to Nome get no veterinary care or exams when they finish the race.

Veterinarians don't check dogs at checkpoint hubs

Lay people check on welfare of dogs at hubs:

Depending upon where the dogs are left, they are brought from the original checkpoint to the checkpoint hubs of McGrath or Unalakleet or directly to Anchorage or Nome.

“Dropped Dog [Lay] Personnel will be checking the drop line every 2 hours around the clock to be sure all the dogs are safe and resting comfortably.”

— lay person: a person who does not have specialized or professional knowledge of a topic.”

– Collins Dictionary online

Dogs who didn't get EKGs are allowed to race

“Nor did it [the Iditarod] lack variety: among the also-rans were a pair of identical-twin sisters, Kristy and Anna Berington, with matching pigtails; Newton Marshall, from St. Anne, Jamaica; Luan Marques, a pet-shop owner from Rio de Janeiro; Mikhail Telpin, a Russian who speaks no English, and whose Siberian huskies’ fur was so thick that it thwarted the vets’ attempts to administer EKGs….”

Invitation for dogs to fight

[It’s well-documented that Iditarod dogs fight with each other. Sick, injured and exhausted dogs who are left at checkpoints may be flown to Anchorage in kennels that hold two dogs. Picture the nightmare of two sick, injured, or exhausted dogs who stressed and probably in pain fighting in the small space of an enclosed kennel.]

Dogs are transported in kennels that can hold two dogs:

“[Chief Iditarod veterinarian] Nelson said in a phone interview Saturday that dogs are transported in wooden travel kennels constructed by the Iditarod with each individual kennel capable of holding up to two dogs. He didn’t know whether Smoke was in the kennel by himself or with another dog.”

– Alaska Dispatch News, March 11, 2017

Dog named Smoke dies while being transported:

Smoke, a 2-year-old on the team of Willow musher Scott Smith, was being transported from Galena to Anchorage late Friday when he ‘died unexpectedly,’ according to a news release from race officials. Smith had dropped Smoke in Manley Hot Springs on Tuesday due to a wrist injury.”